Akabei: a sustainable metal-made stool for The Youth Design Day in Japan

Emanuele Matteucci, Giovanni Silvestri and Michele Tunzi are three Design of the Industrial Product students in Bologna, Italy. They created Akabei, a metal stool starting from one single scrap of metal found as a reject in a mechanical workshop. This is where the sustainability of their project stands. Here the short interview we had with them!

SOYC: “Can you talk us about your design project and its sustainability?”

Students: “Our stool, Akabei, is truly sustainable for many aspects. It is made from a single rectangular sheet of inox steel of only 2 millimetres in thickness. We need only two machineries to produce it: one for cutting the sheet and the other one for bending it. This way we save resources both on material, because there is no waste, and on industrial treatments.
Furthermore, we built Akabei starting from a scrap of metal found as a reject in a mechanical workshop therefore we can say that it is 100% recycled from other processes’ waste.Akabei is built to resist, it is nearly indestructible and it is perfectly safe: it can bear more than 200 kilograms without losing its shape so it is clearly not a single-use product at all.”

SOYC: “Why do you choose metal as your project’s material?”

Students: “We wanted to revalue metal as a material to sit on. We made it comfortable and relaxing by making it wave slightly when someone sit on it and light as it weighs just as the other wooden chairs in commerce. The metal plate bends a bit in the middle to adapt itself to the person who is sittingon and the absence of a backrest guarantees a correct posture. Moreover, the characteristic saddle form will cause no tingling if someone decides to sit for a long period.”

SOYC: “What did inspire you?”

Students: “For the name, we took inspiration from Pacman’s ghost, as our stool’s form reminded us of its shape. Moreover, by looking at it from the front view, it seems invisible just like a ghost. For the shape and functionality, we took inspiration from the swings found at the park and from the work of Ron Arad.”

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